presentation zen

Above are a few samples of slides used for my current presentation-design talks and seminars. In this part of the presentation, I took the audience through a sort of "top-10" tips for better visuals. As you can see above, the slides do not tell nearly the complete story. If you attended the presentation, the slides would have served to reinforce my points and my connection to the audience. But on their own, aside from being interesting and perhaps nice to look at, they serve no real utility outside my presentation. And that is OK. Presentations are ephemeral, a unique moment in time to connect, to teach, persuade, sell, or whatever your purpose of the talk may be. Once it's over, it's over. A printout of slides, like the ones above, will be of little use. And that is precisely why I do not printout my slides for the audience. Instead, I provide a handout to be distributed after my presentations. This allows me to provide more detail and a better written prose, rather than the short, bulleted lists contained within wordy PowerPoint slide printouts that confuse (not to mention bore) more than they inform.